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Help! How Do I Find the Time For Social Media?

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Help! How Do I Find the Time For Social Media?

Postby ChristineG » Sat Mar 07, 2009 4:16 pm

By now, most people have heard about social media. I seem to see three different kinds of people: those who are very active in it and regularly sing its praises, those who have maybe set up a few profiles and have gingerly dipped their toe into the world and those who haven't yet taken the plunge due to confusion or even a bit of fear.

One thing that appears common among most of them is the concern that there is just not enough time to keep up with all of it. There are so many items already on our daily to-do lists that social media can seem like a real time-suck.

By its very nature, social media can be time-consuming in the beginning. You need to get familiar with the platforms and tools and how they work, not to mention the time necessary to truly "build relationships." Add to this its seductive qualities of being both incredibly fun and a great way to procrastinate. How do you take advantage of these tools to benefit your business without wasting all your time?

The key is to be selective. Here's what to do: Pick a couple of networks--for me it is Twitter and Facebook--and concentrate on those. It's impossible to be everywhere and not only that--you don't need to be everywhere, which should come as some relief.

Now because social media is part of what I do in my business, I try many of the new tools that come along, checking them out to see how they work and how they could benefit me or my clients. I don't explore most social networks in depth unless they suddenly gain a good amount of chatter around them. I like to keep track of those occurrences along with a whole host of information through RSS feeds, Google Alerts and Twitter.

But even I have to have limits! While tempting, I do not have Twitter open all day in a desktop application. I check in a few times and treat it as a break from doing other work. For the others networks I experiment and try to have set goals. The key is to avoid participating in low-priority topics and conversations, just as you would in your lives offline.

Are You Benefiting?

There are certain questions you want to ask yourself when participating in social media:

* Is this helping establish a good reputation or improve it?
* Are the sites I am spending time on related to my niche? Does my target market hang out there?
* Is this increasing awareness of my brand?
* Am I learning new things which will result in enriching my business?
* Am I building beneficial relationships?
* Am I seeing traffic to my website or blog as a result of my participation?

It is also important to remember that certain activities, such as chatting with someone on Twitter, do not always give you an immediate benefit. However, it is the relationship you are building which can pay off in the future.

How Do I Know Which Tools are Right for Me?

You will naturally find yourself spending more time on the social media sites which interest you the most. But here are some questions to consider:

* What are people doing there? Are they looking for jobs, discussing video games, setting up joint ventures? Is that focus important to you? Do you enjoy spending time there?
* Who are the people there? Business owners, employees, aspiring entrepreneurs? Are they people you can learn from?
* What is the conversation about? Are you getting value from the conversation? Are the discussions applicable to what you do?

How to Set Limits

* First and foremost, stop feeling guilty.
* Set a timer. I know this sounds funny, but for some people this works really well. If you find yourself regularly getting sucked in, tell yourself you will only spend X amount of minutes on Facebook or Twitter or whichever site you are using. Stick to it!
* Have a plan. It may sound strange to plan out a "social" activity. But you should decide how social media is going to fit into your overall marketing or business picture. Making a few comments on Facebook and your favorite blogs should only take a few minutes. Drop in on Twitter, listen, share a link and respond to others. Make sure to give more than you take.

It's Not for Everyone

If you aren't seeing social media activities as being valuable because you are too busy, then maybe--surprise!--it's not for you. Maybe you already have plenty of clients, and your business is happily growing. Don't waste your time. Social Media is just one of many things you can spend your time on, and unless you see a good return on your time spent you probably are better off doing something else. People can and will carve out the time for social media IF they find a reason to. If you think your business will benefit from understanding how to use these new tools of client communication, networking and marketing, it might be a good idea to get your feet wet. But ultimately it will be up to you to decide what is best.

Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS, founder of CommunicateValue.com, teaches solopreneurs and small business owners how to use online marketing and social media to communicate effectively and authentically and attract more business. For FREE tips on how to build profitable relationships, leverage technology and create your own successful online business, visit her blog, http://CommunicateValue.com
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ChristineG
 
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